Final round of TCA Winter series.

Yesterday morning I woke at 8:45 for the final round of TCA winter bouldering series. My dad and I left the house in our big white van at 9:45. We managed to get there just about 10:00, ready for the registration.

I had a look at all the 15 problems we had, and I read them with my friend Carla. Afterwards we done our warm-up and stretches, we also done some purples (easy), greens, blacks and blues (all reasonably easy). Not long after that I found myself on problem1. I managed to flash all the problems up to 8 then they got really hard.

 

 

 

I did manage to get a few after problem 8 but not all on my first attempt. Problem 13 and above were so hard I didn’t even manage to get off the ground.  I came in 3^rd place in the qualifiers but because I rushed in to the problems I was early finishing so that lead to me having a lengthy break in-between qualifiers and the 2^nd round (snakes and ladders). 

Snakes and ladders was a bit confusing at first but after it had been explained I understood it better. For snakes and ladder there were 5 different problems, some age groups had the same as others so that made the queue quite long. Everybody started at problem 1 and if you topped problem one then you could move on to problem 2. I managed to get to the last problem but just missed the bonus hold.  We had 2 hours to do that round but I was quite lucky and didn’t have to wait as long as some others, so I finished in less than an hour. All that meant was that I got an extra-long break! When we found out the results we still had to wait another half an hour, I managed to draw with Carla in 1^st place.

Just before the finals started we were allowed 6 minutes viewing time. When it was my turn to go out I went to the wrong problem!!! The judge quite quickly noticed that I was meant to be on one at the other side… Ooops! Despite the fact that I only had 2 minutes to read the route and also climb it I managed to flash it. It felt like it was only 3 minutes I was in isolation but it was actually over 10 minutes. When it was my turn again I went out and did go to the right problem but went up the wrong side of the volume so that I got on my 2^nd attempt.

2nd time better....

 

 And finally when I went out to my final problem I did manage to flash it but it was definitely by far the hardest I had  topped all day, not to mention the fact that I also pulled my muscle in my thigh on the last move. Carla and I drew first again so it came back to our score in the qualifiers, which meant I came in 2^nd. That's the winter series over and I am happy to say I came in 3rd overall after 5 hard rounds. I'll definitely be looking to improve for next years series :)

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.

YCS 2015 @ Glasgow Climbing Centre

Sorry couldn’t post this yesterday but the computer crashed.

 I woke up yesterday morning at 7.30am. I got up and had a hearty breakfast and got my kit packed for the day ahead. My mum made us a pack lunch. We packed the van and headed off for the Glasgow Climbing Centre where the first round of the YCS 2015 competition was being held.  We arrived at 9am and registered for the competition. It was good to see lots of familiar faces.  After meeting everyone we set of to find our routes. The first two were on the lead wall while the final route was on the big brown wall. After going over the route several times we headed downstairs to check out the white boulder problems. Our first boulder look fairly easy however the other two looked a lot more difficult. Not long afterwards we all gathered round and done a group warm up. I still felt cold so I headed downstairs with my friend Carla into the alcove and done some more warm ups and some stretches. I was feeling really excited and ready to start the competition.

 

Warming up.

Not long afterwards we all found our judge and belayer, our judge rushed away to find out what routes and boulders were free.  We went down stairs to tackle our first two boulders. I flashed the first and got half way on the second.  Hannah and Carla were the only one who managed to get to the top. Well done! We then went upstairs to do our second route (as our first route was occupied).  About half of the group topped the route, I was one of them.

Moving through the first problem.

We quickly moved over to our first route, most of us managed this one. It felt like it was only a 6a.

 

Route 1.

 

Afterwards when everybody had tried the route, we all went for lunch. I had 2 sandwiches one jam, and one chocolate. I really did enjoy them; I also had salt and vinegar chipsticks and a summer fruits capri-sun. I was thirty minutes early so I decided to go down stairs to the bouldering to do a few pinks and greens just to warm-up again.

Feeling refuelled after out lunch it was time for our final boulder problem.  Hannah was the only one to flash this problem.  Carla climbed well also nearly getting it, with me not far behind.

A few minutes later we all headed upstairs to try our final route.  Nobody managed to top this route.  However I managed to get second highest due to a heel hook that I tried. I was really pleased with my effort on this climb. 

 

Final Route.

 

The competition was over and it was a nervous wait to find out the results.  

Scott climbing well.

 

I was delighted to find out I had come third, as it was a tough comp, with some fabulous climbing from all competitors. 

3rd for me in group C.

3rd for Scott in Group D (Scott on right)

 

 Also it was great to hear that my little brother Scott , who had also moved up a category had managed to come third place as well.  We celebrated that night with a fab dinner and ice cream.

We are both now in training mode for our next round at Dundee. Looking forward to going as I have never been there before.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my Blog....:)

 

Woohoo... came third!

Well that's me back from the first round of the YCS 2015, it was my first time in youth C and i managed to come in third place.
My younger brother Scott who also moved up this year and is now in youth D came third in his category.
My Mum and Dad are over the moon. — feeling amazing.

Well done to everyone who competed today.

I will write up something more when I've had something to eat (I'm starving!).

YCS 2015

Hey everybody, the YCS (Youth Climbing Series) starts tomorrow with the first round being held in The Glasgow Climbing Centre​.
I am really looking forward to it as I will be lead climbing this year as i am now in group C.
It will also be good to catch up with climbers from EICA Ratho​.
The competition will start at 10am and finish around 6pm.
Feel free to pop in and cheer me on if your in the area.
P.S. The Balcony cafe does some great food.
#climbing
#bouldering